SK Superintendent Stringfellow gets contract extension

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The South Kingstown School Committee recently voted 5-1 to extend Superintendent Dr. Kristen Stringfellow’s contract through the end of the 2015-2016 school year.
The vote was taken in an executive session ahead of the June 25 work session on graduation rates and requirements and was reported at the start of the session, Maureen Cotter, school committee chair confirmed.

Member Jonathan Daly-LaBelle cast the dissenting vote and member Liz Morris was not in attendance for the vote or the work session, Cotter said.
“The school committee does an annual evaluation of the superintendent,” Cotter said. “Her evaluation this year was very favorable. That’s why the school committee felt very comfortable extending the contract and felt comfortable supporting a salary increase.”
The school committee’s vote also affirmed a raise of 2.5 percent on the superintendent’s salary.
“She has done a terrific job for us and for the students,” Cotter said.
In a blog post published Monday, Daly-LaBelle wrote that he didn’t “see the need or feel any urgency to extend a contract with two years on it.”
Stringfellow’s contract still had two years remaining at the time the vote was taken and was set to expire at the end of the 2014-2015 school year.
“I continue to have concerns with how much has been handled by the superintendent,” Daly-LaBelle wrote. “Many of these concerns have been shared here [on the blog] – plus other process and building-level decisions – as well as attempted to be part of the public discussion agenda items in public meetings.”
Stringfellow was not available for comment for this story, as her secretary said she is out of the office until Tuesday.